No. 4 EMCC Lions spread the wealth in earning 51-32 homecoming victory over top-ranked Northwest Mississippi

SCOOBA – With seven different players reaching the end zone on the day, the fourth-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College never trailed in claiming a 51-32 homecoming victory over top-ranked and reigning national champion Northwest Mississippi Community College Saturday afternoon at Sullivan-Windham Field.

Now 6-1 overall and 5-0 in division play, the EMCC Lions will close out their MACJC North Division slate by traveling to Coahoma on Thursday looking to officially solidify their eighth regular-season division championship in nine years and sixth straight title dating back to their 2011 national championship season.

Saturday's much-anticipated Top 5 battle pitting the NJCAA's two most recent national football champions kicked off with the home-standing Lions jumping out to a 17-0 lead.  Midway through the first quarter, EMCC's De'Andre Johnson lofted a 42-yard touchdown toss to Brooks Shannon for the only score of the opening 15 minutes of play coming at the 7:15 mark.

The Lions added to their early lead on the first play of the second quarter with Taylor Crabtree's 35-yard field goal splitting the uprights.  Following a three-and-out possession by Northwest, Johnson's 30-yard completion to Damion Willis helped set up Isaiah Wright's 4-yard scoring run.  His team-leading seventh touchdown of the year extended EMCC's lead to 17-0 with 12:28 remaining in the first half.

With the teams evenly splitting 34 second-quarter points between them, the Rangers quickly got right back into the contest by scoring a pair of touchdowns within a three-minute span.  After Clay Holgorsen hit Alex Norwood with a 5-yard scoring pass at the 10:57 mark, Northwest followed an EMCC three-and-out by marching 75 yards on just five plays.  This time, Holgorsen found Dee White in the right-front corner of the end zone from 23 yards out to cut the margin to 17-14 with 7:52 left to play in the quarter.

EMCC was able to halt Northwest's momentum on its next possession when Johnson hit Ja'Moz Mark straight up the field in the back of the end zone with a 40-yard scoring strike that made it a 24-14 contest with 5:03 remaining in the half.  The Rangers immediately struck back on their next possession when Holgorsen and Jerrick Orr teamed up on an 83-yard catch and run that appeared headed for another score.  However, Orr was ruled to have stepped out of bounds at the 2-yard line.  The Lions' defense then stiffened on three straight subsequent run plays forcing the visitors to settle for Drake McCarter's 20-yard field goal at the 2:44 mark to conclude the first-half scoring.

Following intermission, the Lions struck first again in the second half to move ahead by two touchdowns.  After Johnson bolted 37 yards up the middle on a keeper, the dual-threat Florida State transfer quarterback lofted a well-timed, 34-yard touchdown pass to Willis down the left sideline to extend EMCC's advantage to 31-17 with 10:49 left in the quarter.

To close out the third-quarter scoring, Northwest benefitted from another lengthy pass play that this time resulted in a touchdown.  Backup quarterback Cam Bowman hooked up with Marquisian Chapman for a 71-yard reception prior to his 6-yard touchdown toss to White at the 3:55 mark.  Cole Rotenberry's two-point run conversion cut the deficit to just six points at 31-25.

But that's as close as the Rangers were able to get in the second half, as East Mississippi responded by tallying three unanswered touchdowns on the NJCAA's fourth-ranked scoring defense to open the fourth quarter.  Following Jacques Horsley's 3-yard scoring run one minute into the final period, Johnson later connected with freshman receivers Daniel Crowell Jr. and Devin Ducksworth on touchdown tosses of eight and seven yards, respectively, to punt the Lions on top, 51-25, with six minutes remaining.

Northwest scored the game's final points on a Bowman-to-Orr, 5-yard scoring pass at the 2:04 mark to account for the 51-32 final margin.  The 19-point setback snapped the Rangers' 10-game winning streak that had dated back to their 49-16 road loss to EMCC one year ago to the day (Oct. 15, 2015) in Scooba.

Winners of 58 of their last 62 games over the last six years, head coach Buddy Stephens' EMCC Lions are now 30-1 at Sullivan-Windham Field during that span, including a current streak of 20 consecutive home victories since 2013.  In addition, they have won 23 straight MACJC North Division contests over the past four years.

Against Northwest, the Lions amassed 600-plus yards of total offense on the afternoon in matching their season average of 51 points scored per game.  Johnson, a two-time MACJC Offensive Player of the Week this season, enjoyed another stellar performance with 422 yards of total offense.  The Jacksonville, Florida product connected on 26-of-40 passes for 334 yards and a season-high five touchdowns without an interception, while also rushing for a game-high 88 yards on 20 carries.

Johnson's top targets for the contest were Shannon with 10 catches for 98 yards and a touchdown, along with Willis' three receptions for 106 yards and a score.